Living by the Todd Family Motto: "It behooves us to live."

Last year when I announced the winners of the 2012 Ralphies, I said that the award wasn’t going away. I said I was a sucker for tradition and that I was going to keep calling the awards the Ralphies even though this blog has absolutely nothing to do with anyone named Ralph.

I was wrong. Oh well.

It just makes sense to make this switch. So the awards formally known as the Ralphies will now be known as The Fishbowl Awards Presented by (insert sponsor here) – the Mattys.

OK. That’s a mouthful. But that’s OK because there really isn’t a sponsor, nor do I intend on finding a sponsor for these awards. But, if someone ever feels the need to sponsor such an awards, there will be room to add a title sponsor. It works for the Rose Bowl (presented by Vizio this year) and the Tournament of Roses Parade (presented by Honda). Why couldn’t it eventually work for the Mattys?

Just planning ahead. Because, you know, I’m definitely the planner in this family (and now I’m moving my tongue that was firmly planted in my cheek).

So without further ado, I am pleased to present

The 2013 Matty Awards

Best Movie

I think I saw more movies this year than I’ve seen in any year in recent memory. Star Trek Into Darkness was pretty fun. It was even more memorable because Christy and I actually got to go there on a date. I think the last movie just the two of us went to was Shrek. Yeah. It’s been a while. Other movies I saw included Jobs, The Fifth Estate, Iron Man 3, Hotel Transylvania, Despicable Me 2, and The Book Thief.

In a field full of worthy candidates, Frozen stands out as the best movie of 2013. Disney has managed to recapture some of the magic from their Renaissance Era. The songs are catchy. The story is engaging. The themes – love, self sacrifice, and accepting people who are different from you – encourage you to think about the topics more deeply after leaving the cinema. It has a Broadway musical feel to it, much like Beauty and the Beast.

And Alyson is determined to build an Olaf snowman after seeing Frozen.

It’s a very good movie. I think it’s the best one I’ve seen all year. If you’re as into the movie as our family was, you can go ahead and pre-order your own copy ofFrozen.

Best Album

I heard about Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War while listening to NPR on the way home from work. From the first note, I was hooked.

Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War is a compilation of songs that were written during the US Civil War. The songs are performed by current artists like Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, and Old Crow Medicine Show. It’s good stuff. And I’m not even a fan of most of the musicians on the album.

While this isn’t an album I can listen to all the time, it’s a pretty phenomenal album. Some of the songs, like Lee Ann Womack singing The Legend of the Rebel Soldier, will haunt you for the rest of the day. Other songs like Kingdom Come and Down by the Riverside will make you want to get up and dance.

It’s a great album for anyone who has even a hint of interest in Civil War history.

Best Song

Oh man. I had trouble with this one. So I asked my kids for help. That’s right. I outsourced this award this year.

Here are their choices for Best Song of 2013:

Aiden

Aiden surprised me with his pick. I thought for sure he was going to pick Radioactive by Imagine Dragons. But he didn’t. And I’m kind of happy about that. I used to like the song. Then I watched the video. Stuffed animals fighting in a pit? Come on, man.

Alyson

Mihret

OK. I didn’t really give her a choice. I picked it for her. It’s The Cups Song. And you can see why from this video.

See? Adorable.

Best Book (Nonfiction)

As I said earlier this year, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is a must-read for everyone. Are you an an introvert? You gotta read this book. Do you know an introvert? You gotta read this book. Did you pass an introvert while you walked through the aisles of your local grocery store? Yep. You gotta read this book.

Then give a copy of the book to a friend.

This book should also be required reading for all seminarians, ministry interns, Elders, pastoral staff, worship leaders, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers, and Senior Pastors.

Yes. It’s that important.

Best Book (Fiction)

I don’t remember reading any memorable fiction this year. Glancing at my bookshelf on Goodreads confirms that I did not read any works of fiction this year. That’s unfortunate. It must be fixed.

Central Indiana residents have been challenged to read 26 (or more) books in 2014. In order fix my anemic fiction record, I’m jumping into the #Read26Indy challenge. That’s about one book every two weeks. In order for that to happen, I’m going to need to find some good works of fiction. Any suggestions? I’m all ears!

Best Sports Moment

While watching that shot in realtime almost gave me and every other Hoosier fan a heart attack, it’s such a great memory now.

Best Blog

There’s a tie for this year’s Matty for Best Blog.

Indy with Kids

With Indy With Kids, Katy has created a great resource for families in Central Indiana. And the site keeps getting better. She has shared some of her vision for 2014 with me and she has some pretty amazing things planned for the coming year. She’s also a pretty cool person to meet in real life.

What about you?

What do you think about the choices? Am I right? Did I miss the mark on any of them? What are your favorites from last year? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

*This post contains some affiliate links. If you click the link and buy something, I get a very small percentage of the purchase. It’s a win-win situation. Does this impact my opinions expressed in this post? Absolutely not.

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Howdy. I'm Matt Todd. My wife and I have three kids, a dog, and a guinea pig. Our youngest daughter was adopted from Ethiopia. We are in the process of adopting again. I'm a die-hard fan of the Evansville Aces, the Indiana Hoosiers, and Star Wars. I'm trying to live life by the Todd family motto: "It behooves us to live!"